Beyond Which There Be Dragons

Mischief, magic, murder, mayhem, and mischief.

Well, this school ended up being more than I could have possibly imagined! Garth was right in wanting to study here. They supply just about everything that a budding (or seasoned) craftsmen could ever want, and there’s a discount in the store to boot! I could not help myself. I had to enroll and see what I could see.

Damnable bandits. It seems the bastards are everywhere nowadays and no matter how many I kill, three spring up to take his place. They seem to be getting more bold as well. No longer content to prey upon people on the roads, they have taken to attacking towns and abducting the townsfolk. It makes me sick. They got what they had coming though.

A blog for your campaign

While the wiki is great for organizing your campaign world, it’s not the best way to chronicle your adventures. For that purpose, you need a blog!

The Adventure Log will allow you to chronologically order the happenings of your campaign. It serves as the record of what has passed. After each gaming session, come to the Adventure Log and write up what happened. In time, it will grow into a great story!

Best of all, each Adventure Log post is also a wiki page! You can link back and forth with your wiki, characters, and so forth as you wish.

One final tip: Before you jump in and try to write up the entire history for your campaign, take a deep breath. Rather than spending days writing and getting exhausted, I would suggest writing a quick “Story So Far” with only a summary. Then, get back to gaming! Grow your Adventure Log over time, rather than all at once.

Twenty-seven years ago, the land of Harondor was beset by an evil fate. It began slowly, with slight unrest in the hinterlands: farmers would find their livestock slain or carried off, shepherds would have their flocks scattered, the camps of woodcutters would be ransacked. These disturbances increased in hostility until it became clear that the indigenous peoples of the land — orcs, goblins, ogres, etc — while usually not in open conflict with the more civilized races, were becoming a problem.

Before the year’s end, whole villages were coming under attack, falling one by one to these monsters until events culminated in a siege of the capitol city, Lossarnach. A large horde of ranging from frail yet cunning goblins to swarthy hill giants, and led by gang of armed and armored trolls attacked the city. The fighting was fierce, and the casualties were great on both sides, but with reinforcements marching from Lebenin the army of creatures was beaten and dispersed.

For a while things seemed to be returning to normal, until the attacks started up again. Upon further investigation by a small group of soldiers known as the Ins and Outs, it was discovered that the perpetrators were not the original orcish horde, as was surmised. Lizardmen of many sizes and colors, and drake-like creatures the size of wolves had been pushing out the orcs and goblins, and had advanced far enough into civilized lands to threaten the barely recovered capitol. The armed might of Lossarnach skirmished with reptilian host, but ultimately the city was brought low, and it came to light that the drakes and lizardmen were working at the behest of a great wyrm, a fang dragon named Vakariavgwegoth who directed their attacks. After a brief and bitter time, Vakariavgwegoth and his host turned his attention to Lebenin in the east, the last vestige of resistance this side of the mountains. The ragged remains of the Ins and Outs stood before the gate of the city and perished in the onslaught. And so the dragon cemented his hold on the land.

Vakariavgwegoth still resides in Lossarnach, and the only rule in the lands is anarchy. Some of the lizard horde has dispersed, but most still live in and around the countryside, making life difficult for the small bands of men, orcs, dwarves, and goblins who roam the fields and hills. Most rival groups are content to steer clear of each other or to engage in wary trade, although some are little better than ruffians who seek to gain what they can by force.

But every so often, a rumor comes up from down the South Way that things are better further from the dragon, and near the marshes and woods there are even towns where a peaceful life can be found…